Advertised rents rose by an average of 5.7% last year, according to the latest report by property listings website Daft.ie.
The rate of increase is marginally slower than the 6.8% rise recorded in 2023.
The average rent on the open market nationally is €1,956 which is 43% higher than before the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020.
While the availability of homes to rent had improved over the past two years, the situation deteriorated in the last few months particularly in Dublin where supply of rental properties has fallen.
The report said that on 1 February this year, there were fewer than 2,300 homes available to rent across the country, down one quarter on the same date a year previously and well below the 2015-2019 average of almost 4,400.
In Dublin rents in the final quarter of 2024 were 4% higher than a year earlier, while outside the capital they were 7% higher on average.
The figures are based on new tenancies.
Limerick saw the highest rent increase at 19% last year.
Ronan Lyons, author of the report and associate professor in economics at Trinity College Dublin the imposition of some of the strictest rent controls in the world have not solved the underlying issues in the housing market.
He said: “an acute shortage of rental housing continues to plague the market, driving rents in the open market further up and creating a wedge between those that get the benefit from rent controls and those that do not.
“Rents for movers have increased by almost half since rent controls were tightened in 2021, while rents for ‘stayers’ have risen by just seven percent in the same time,” he added.
Mr Lyons said the current situation regarding rent controls was “clearly unsustainable”.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has called for the current rules to be relaxed and for landlords to be able to freely reset rents at the end of a tenancy.
Mr Lyons said the Government may also wish to increase rent caps so property owners can cover maintenance costs.
Article Source – Advertised rents rose by 5.7% in 2024 – Daft.ie report – RTE
